For decades, conventional exterior vehicle lighting has relied on light sources such as incandescent or halogen lamps, for example. Relatively recent advances in technology have allowed vehicle lamps to incorporate other light sources into vehicle lighting applications. Some vehicle lamps have recently been designed to incorporate light emitting elements, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), for use in exterior vehicle lamps. While the use of LEDs provides certain benefits in some lighting applications, the use of LEDs may be more expensive as multiple light sources must typically be used in order to meet the photometric requirements of a vehicle lamp.
Although the implementation of LEDs in rear automotive lamp assemblies is highly desirable, the high cost of LEDs prevents engineers and designers from implementing the LEDs into rear automotive lamp assemblies. In addition to these functional and photometric requirements of vehicle lamps, vehicle lighting design has evolved to include aesthetic and important design features that define the style of the lamp and even a vehicle. Vehicle manufacturers may desire to have a lamp that looks like it has LEDs while still maintaining the traditional cost and benefits of an incandescent or halogen lamp while having fewer light sources.
Certain known methods of designing a vehicle lamp with an LED-look require the use of lens optics, either on an inner lens or the outer lens. The addition of lens optics or having an inner lens component to the lamp may increase cost, and styling requirements of vehicle manufactures sometimes dictate that the lamp has a smooth clear lens so that the customers can easily see into the lamp. However, the highly desirable look of LEDs in rear automotive lamp assemblies is still in high demand. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an automotive lamp assembly providing the look of a plurality of LEDs at a significantly decreased cost.